Read more at LGBTQ Nation.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed six pro-LGBTQ+ bills into law on Saturday, some of which were crafted as a direct response to the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on the community.
“The Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on the LGBTQ community, using medical records to target U.S. servicemembers and civilians alike, hurting countless people and betraying hard-won trust,” Newsom said in a statement on the bill package. “California will not stand for it.”
One bill, AB 1930, seeks to protect trans Californians’ medical records by barring state or local agencies from “cooperating with or providing information to an individual or agency from another state or a federal law enforcement agency… regarding a legally protected health care activity that is lawful in this state and performed in this state.”
The bill requires any agency that receives a subpoena, discovery request, or similar request to report it to the attorney general, who will assess whether the request meets certain requirements before deciding whether the information can be provided.
One such requirement is that “the requested information is related to an investigation or proceeding regarding activity that is unlawful under California civil or criminal law, and it identifies the California law under which the activity is unlawful.” The bill also protects the medical information of folks who have terminated a pregnancy.
The law is a response to the Trump administration’s efforts to intimidate hospitals across the country into ending gender-affirming care services for trans youth. The administration has subpoenaed the private medical records of trans youth from more than 20 hospitals in hopes of using them to prosecute health care providers, even in states that don’t ban gender-affirming care for trans youth. In some cases, judges have rejected the administration’s attempts. In others, hospitals have agreed to shutter their programs in response or have even complied with providing the records.
The other bills ban conversion therapy for minors; strengthen protections and resources for LGBTQ+ college students; limit out-of-state entities from accessing state data on LGBTQ+ people; reduce hurdles for insurance companies to cover HIV prevention medication; and, in response to the administration’s trans miliary ban, help military veterans who “received a discharge solely as a result of a specified executive order” to upgrade to an honorable discharge and prioritize those “who are able to demonstrate their less than honorable characterization of service was connected to a mental health condition, traumatic brain injury, sexual assault or harassment, or sexual orientation or… gender identity.”
Last week, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have prevented California from extraditing patients or providers as part of another state’s investigations into gender-affirming or reproductive care, explaining that it would “prohibit future governors from recognizing a request for extradition of a person subject to criminal liability based on allegations that the person engaged in specified healthcare activities.”
He acknowledged the importance of the bill’s goals and emphasized he does “share the author’s views on the importance of protecting these important healthcare services,” but also said that “extradition is an exclusively executive function” and he felt “troubled by the precedent that would be set if an outgoing administration agreed with the Legislature to erode the executive authority of an incoming Governor based on their shared policy preferences, regardless of how righteous and well-intended those actions may be.”
Newsom has a shaky track record when it comes to trans rights. While he has supported trans rights and signed positive bills protecting trans people, he has also agreed with slain MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk that trans inclusion in sports is unfair. Last year, he vetoed a bill that would have funded gender-affirming care.
Last year, trans journalist Erin Reed wrote that “transgender people are not feeling Gavin Newsom” because his office reportedly pressured state lawmakers not to pursue pro-trans legislation.
“This caution came precisely as red states were escalating their crackdowns, enacting increasingly hostile laws,” Reed wrote. “California could have served as a bulwark—a safe ground—but instead, Newsom hit the brakes.”
In other comments highlighted by Reed, Newsom said he’s “trying to understand as … the whole ‘pronoun’ thing,” and suggested that 25 might be too young for someone to transition.
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